KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — The Malaysian karate squad clinched two gold, one silver and a bronze on third and final day of the karate competition in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today,
The trio of Emmanuel Leong, Hoe Thomson and Lim Chee Wei blasted the Indonesia team 5-0 the men’s team kata event final to capture the first gold. Vietnam took the bronze.
Syakilla Salni Jerry Krisnan, Shree Sharmini, M Mathivani and P Madhuri then went on to edge Vietnam 2-1 in the women’s Kumite team event find to deliver the second gold.
In the women’s kata team final, Celine Lee Xin Yi, Ariana Lim Junyi and Cherlene Cheung Xue Lin lost 2-3 to the Vietnamese team and had to be satisfied with the silver.
However, the men’s Kumite team had to share the bronze with the Indonesians after both teams lost in the semifinals.
Sixteen gold were offer in karate and Malaysia captured seven gold, two silver and a bronze.
Meanwhile, National karate coach Andris Vasiljevs said the commitment and effort shown by the national squad during the preparation stages of the competition had produced a positive outcome.
“I am very happy with the squad’s performance and commitment, in sports, it’s unpredictable as anything can happen but when you have that hunger and commitment like the team we have, you can tell that the team will win something.
“We would like to thank the fans too, the support that we got from the fans was fantastic, every stage is like a final for us that is the advantage of playing home,” he said. — Bernama
